The Mysterious Devil’s Footprint in North Manchester, Maine

Surrounding the centuries old cemetery of the North Manchester Meeting House in Maine is a low rising rock wall made from numerous boulders.  One of these boulders is known for its mysterious markings; and it is these curious indentations on the rock that are believed to have been made from the Devil himself.  One of which is thought to be the Devil’s Footprint.

Stories and tales abound about this quiet place.  It sits off the main highway of 95 only a few miles. And so on our recent trip through Maine, we had to stop and check it out!

As the video below shows, it was a foggy and a bit of a rainy morning.  The only sounds were of the breeze and leaves falling from the trees. This, along with the gloom of the day made visiting the place a bit eerie, yet fun!

We were aware the area overflowed with tales of ghostly sightings, unexplained sounds, and mysterious happenings.  We were also aware of different accounts on how the ‘boulder’ markings came to be.  All of which involved the Devil in some way.  The depressions in rock were said to be either the Devil leaving his footprints, or just other indentations left by him while casting fear in unsuspecting visitors.

One common story seems to be the marks on the rock are the Devil’s Footprints which he made as he was chasing some gentleman.  He left them there as a reminder to stay away from the area.

But another, just as popular account, is the one central, more triangular ‘hoof like’ mark is his lone footprint.  The other indentations are mysterious patterns; said to possibly be two human footprints together on the left side (prints of the person he was chasing), and then a swoop of his tail on the right.

As we mention in the video, the unusual indentations, described above, were said to be made after the following incident. It’s alleged that during the construction of the road, which passes in front of the Meeting House, the large boulder could not be moved.  Frustrated, a worker supposedly said; “I would sell my soul to the Devil for this rock to be moved!”.

The next morning, the rock was moved, the boulder displayed these strange and unexplainable patterns, one of which looked like a ‘hoof shape (Devil’s footprint)’, and the worker was missing.   Such is the reason why they are thought to be from the Devil.  Although the marks are now worn from time, they are still puzzling.

As most stories go, they are short, without any real proof of them happening.  They are just baffling tales to retell in fun, and to help give reason for the mysterious occurrences which seem to take place there.

While we were there, we didn’t experience anything out of the ordinary. We didn’t see the ghostly robed man with lantern at the gate of the cemetery who is often said to be there guarding the entrance.

But maybe you can see something in the video footage we might have missed.

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